C-Pop in the Shadow of a Rising China
MUSC 127
Spring 2023
| Section:
01
|
| Crosslisting:
CEAS 259 |
Explore the emotional aspect of a rising China and understand the inner feelings of contemporary Chinese youth through C-pop. How did "red songs" from the Cultural Revolution become popular songs in the 21st century? How did an "extremely soft and feminine" voice threaten the Chinese Communist Party? Why do songs from the "jazz capital of the Orient" trigger nostalgia? How do underground rock and punk bands negotiate their existence? How is rap in China different from that of the US or anywhere else? How do Chinese artists deal with LGBTQ issues and ethnic minority issues in popular music? Why do TV variety shows matter? What future is there for China's burgeoning "internet songs"? Popular music in a rising China presents complex issues of state-sponsored popular culture intersecting with bottom-up popular taste and desire, the repressive collective "we" intersecting with the resilient individual "I" in artistic expressions, the imagined "ancient China" intersecting with contemporary sound and technology, and the intensifying nationalistic sentiment intersecting with China's expanding global ambition. This course offers students opportunities to explore aesthetic, political, and cultural meanings expressed in China's popular music from the 1980s to the present. Chinese language knowledge is not necessary. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (CEAS-MN)(CEAS)(CEAS-Lit&Cult)(MUSC) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: 50% - 74% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Marc Moskowitz, 2010. CRIES OF JOY, SONGS OF SORROW; CHINESE POP MUSIC AND ITS CULTURAL CONNOTATIONS and articles.
|
Examinations and Assignments:
2 class presentations, periodic class quizzes based on listening and reading materials, one 5 page midterm written report, one 5-8 page final paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
|
| Instructor(s): Zheng,Su Times: ..T.R.. 02:50PM-04:10PM; Location: OLIN327B; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: 2 | JR major: 2 | | |
| Seats Available: -2 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 2 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 3 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 3 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
|
|